MSFunk SCHOOL OF ROCK: MSFunk members later became members of: TOTO; LITTLE FEAT; IDES OF MARCH; STYX; TRILLION; DAMN YANKEES; AIRBORNE; MIAMI SOUND MACHINE; SHAW/BLADES; BOBBY WOMACK; HARVEY MANDEL BAND; LEROUX.
DANNY KELLER: Drums KEITH GOINS: Lead Guitar/Vocals LINDY GALLAHER: Bass COLIN KEEFE: Lead Vocals/Trumpet TOMMY SHAW: Lead Guitar/Vocals CHAZ BAKER: Trombone/Electric Piano/Vocals ROBERT ORR: Hammond B-3, Trombone, Vocals LARRY STEWART: Trumpet/Sax/Flute/Vocals MIKE BORCH: Drums FERGIE FREDRIKSEN: Lead Vocals
Influences
Uriah Heep; Chicago; Yes; Allman Brothers; The Fabulous Flippers.
Sounds Like
"In my opinion the greatest rock group ever from Chicago..." Paul Love.
MSFunk began as a collection of Kansas and Nebraska musicians brought together to re-form the midwest supergroup "The Smoke Ring" in 1971. They quickly left the area to headquarter in Memphis in 1972, then Chicago in 1973. It was a 5-year wild ride: stunning performances night after night throughout the South, Midwest and East Coast that people still remember to this day. MSFunk was a concert opening band that would blow away the headliners. They were a club act with record crowds. National acts came to see THEM play. They were like no other band on the road at that time......
(See Blog for MSFunk member Bios)
"PLATFORM SHOES" REVIEW FROM YOGI @ MELODIC ROCK.COM:
Last Friday my M.S. Funk Platform Shoes CD arrived. I have given this CD a whole bunch of spins since. The first thing I have to say is, if you are a Styx fan this is a MUST purchase. Forget the recent past and buy this CD.
MSFunk is the closest thing to Styx I have ever heard. This CD is all over the map but it still all comes back to the Styx sound.
Let me start out with some quotes from the liner notes. The notes were written by a guy named Paul Love: 'I still recall the evening in 1972 when I first saw this band perform. I was convinced in a short time, and I remain so to this day, that I was watching and listening to the greatest band of all my experiences'.
Paul made an offer to the group to record them. The deal was that he could record them but all recordings were to remain private, and would never be distributed or copied without permission of all the band members.
These recordings lay dormant for over 30 years until now.
There is enough to produce 3 CD's Paul writes. This CD has over 70 minutes of material. Will there be 2 more CD's in the future? I dont know. He does not say.
The CD starts off with a song called Musical Charades. The start of this song and Put Me On are exact. The fourth Song MS Funk Medley has the start of Put Me On in it again plus what sounds like the drift away part DDY and JY use later in Put Me On. Its incredible.
The last song on the CD is the 9:50 song titled Bitter Suite. This is where the song Mademoiselle comes from. 'The where do you go at the end of the day, where do you go when you spend time away' plus more is exact. It almost sounds fresher than the Styx version. It never says Sweet Mademoiselle the song just moves on into a different direction. The part in DDY's Ballerina right before Dennis sings 'dance for me, I beg of you' is also in this song almost exactly how it appears on Crystal Ball, Ballerina version, right down to the Wo OOHH part.
This CD just blows me away.
There are 13 songs 3 of these songs are right at or over 10 minutes long. Only three of these songs are covers. One of the covers is Tommy singing BBKing's The Thrill Is Gone.
The CD has everything from a Crosby Stills feel to a George Benson feel, but it all comes back to Styx.
I never knew how much Tommy influenced their(Styx) sound until now. Years later Styx even went back to the MS Funk sound so to speak. There is a part in one of the songs where the guitar riff from Rockin The Paradise comes from. It sounds exact to me.
M.S. Funk has 8 or 9 players and almost all of them sing. They sound GREAT. The vocals are tremendous. While some of the music sounds dated the songs are so complex and layered its like, 'is this the same song that started 8 minutes ago?'. The vocalists take turns in the same song. Its awesome.
Finally, the only reason I could see this band not making it BIG was their geography. ALABAMA was not the right place for this band. I honestly wonder at the time if Tommy thought he was making a mistake switching bands. After hearing M.S. Funk you are left to wonder why they didn't make it HUGE!!!!!!!!!!! ("Platform Shoes" review from MelodicRock.com).
FROM BRIAN AT 'HEEPSTER':
I listen to "Platform Shoes" very often. So many times,
when fans finally get to hear material that has attained a "mythical" status,
the reality is often disappointing. Not so with MSFunk. Pardon the cliche, but
you guys kicked major butt. One of the strongest "archive" releases EVER. The
record industry should be ashamed of themselves for not seeing the enormous
talent in that band.
FROM "BLINDEYE" AT 'HEEPSTER':
This is a must for Styx and Heep fans, IMO, if you play tracks 1, 2, 4, 7,
10, 11, 12 and 13, you've got the album of the year or maybe of a decade!!!
FROM JAY AT 'HEEPSTER':
I'm one of those who purchased Platform Shoes and it
was my no.1 archival release of 2006. Actually, it was
one of 2006's best releases!!
FROM ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME'S MIKE S:
At least we all have this CD to look back on and realize just how great MS Funk really was. Easily the BEST unsigned band I've ever heard!
Some of you were around when MSFunk toured the South, East Coast, and Midwest. We know there's some Funk pictures out there locked away in vaults, buried in old scrapbooks, hidden away in junk drawers or used as evidence in paternity suits and divorce proceedings.
WE WANT YOUR PICTURES!!!
Send them to us and we'll put 'em on our Funk Fan's Pic Page! We don't care how embarrassing they are...we want 'em! We just received a batch from "Bad Bev" in Atlanta and we put up some from Kathy in Birmingham. Take a look!
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
The Funksters:
Danny, Keith, Robert, Lindy, Colin, Tommy, Chaz, Larry and Mike
Hey MSFunk! Just want to stop by to say thanks for being friends! Keep me in mind if you need any mastering done. All of the info is on my page and feel free to email me anytime. Only $25 per song and $100 for an EP, mix-tape, or full CD! Thanks!! Jim Wavelength MD
Hey, Funksters! Glad I have *your* Platform shoes, because my foot is still swollen from a broken bone and I can't wear mine yet! LOL! Hope all is well!
Hello MS Funk Awesome band i used go watch you whenever you played at the Purple carriage in St Charles thats where i met Tommy Shaw Rock on max respect
Really? I met the Stones via my ex husband, who was programming a station in Columbia, MO during the Voodoo Lounge tour. The Stones had just signed with Virgin Records, and the Virgin rep invited us back. In fact, we were the first group allowed in the actual Voodoo Lounge. Also got front row seats - it was so surreal. Keith called me "luv" and Mick was soooo cool!
Hey - what's good?!?
Just filling you in - we have a couple shows coming up in the Chicagoland Area.
FREE ACOUSTIC SHOW!! Friday - April 17 - 7pm - Lincolnwood Town Center Hot Topic - Lincolnwood, IL
Sunday - April 26 - 5pm - Doug's Rockhouse - Aurora, IL - with Danger Is My Middle Name, My Lady Four, Jynx'd, The State Affair, Two Steps Ahead, and Emoticon - $7
A Funk reunion at my house would be groovy. Don't expect a lake with a houseboat, however. I have a pretty good sized creek and a few planks. Bring it on!!
Castaways was a cool place to be back then. A friend of mine used to work for Walt as a pin setter, so as kids we'd sneek into some corner of the lounge and see the band's shows. I remember seeing you guys there and Wayne Cochran quite a bit, also the Rotary Connection. My friend's band eventually got a chance to perform there with The Quest and some of the guys from HP LoveCraft got up to jam with them. Later they opened for Sonny Charles.You'd never know who might drop by that place I hope that you guys reform in some way, I'd love to see you guys perform again.
Our paths might have crossed. I remember seeing you guys at Castaways in Calumet City, and my friend's band used to open for a lot of bands at Dex Card's Wild Goose in Indiana. I remember seeing you guys a lot there. Or maybe at my aunt's record store on 112th, on the east side. Are you guys still making music?
Thank you for being our friend!
You can also follow us on our new Twitter account - http://twitter. com/mmmasters for announcements, events, everything!
Hey colin and crew.. Sorry been awhile.Been trying to get the production done for this next release and a big show...Hope you are all in great spirits and staying warm...(For those who didn't take the trip south;-) Keep it Rockin..Keep it loud.
